Genealogy, local history and historical research in New England and other interesting places. Nutfield was the former land grant ................................. that is now the towns of Londonderry, Derry and Windham, New Hampshire.

Friday, July 6, 2012

John Locke ~ He Cut Off an Indian's Nose with his Scythe!

You can find it on Locke Road, off Ocean Boulevard (Route 1A) just before Rye Harbor.

CAPTAIN JOHN LOCKE

SETTLED HERE ON LOCKE'S NECK

ABOUT 1640

KILLED BY THE INDIANS NEAR THIS SPOT

AUGUST 26, 1696

ERECTED BY THE LOCKE FAMILY ASSOCIATION

1934

LOCKE'S NECK

NAMED FOR CAPTAIN JOHN LOCKE WHO SETTLED HERE

BEFORE 1665 WITH HIS WIFE, ELIZABETH BERRY. BORN IN

LONDON IN 1627, HE LANDED IN PORTSMOUTH CA 1644 AND

ACCORDING TO TRADITION FRAMED THE FIRST MEETING HOUSE

THERE ABOUT 1654. AS CAPTAIN OF THE MILITIA HE WAS NOTED

FOR HIS DEFENSIVE ACTIONS AGAINST HOSTILE INDIANS.

HE WAS KILLED HERE AUGUST 26, 1696 BY INDIANS AS HE

WORKED HIS FIELDS WITH ONLY A SICKLE FOR DEFENSE.

HIS SONS AND GRANDSONS WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN THE

CREATION OF THE PARISH OF RYE IN 1726.

THIS AREA HAS BEEN CALLED JOSELYN'S NECK, LOCKE'S

NECK AND STRAW'S POINT. IN 1978 RYE'S ANNUAL TOWN

MEETING OFFICIALLY NAMED THIS AREA LOCKE'S NECK IN

HONOR OF THAT PIONEER FAMILY.

ERECTED BY

THE LOCKE FAMILY ASSOCIATION

1984

Please note there is a discrepancy between the two signs as to when John Locke settled on this land. Neither sign mentions the story of John Locke defending himself before his death, by cutting off the nose of one of the hostile Indians. The story was popular during Victorian times, but today there is a lot of sympathy for the Indians who were losing their land. According to myth, repeated in town and state histories, Locke's sons spent years searching for an Indian without a nose to avenge their father's death. You can view the sickle/scythe on display at the New Hampshire Historical Society Museum, along with a plaque about the story. The Locke family burial ground is located across the street from these two memorials on Locke Neck.

This excerpt from The Granite Monthly magazine was published in 1892,

Volume 14, page 47 (from Google Books)

You can see the story of "The Indian's Nose" but also the incorrect name of his wife.

8 comments:

Heather, I was wondering about your comment that John Locke did not marry Elizabeth Berry, and was wondering if maybe there was no Elizabeth Berry daughter of William and Jane. I am trying to untangle what I know about the Berry family. do you know anything about Judith Locke who married William Berry grandson of original William in 1678?jeanie

Capt.John Locke was married to Elizabeth Berry. I'm related on both the Berry and the Locke side. More directly on the Berry line. There are a number of historical books which have information on these families. Two that are very helpful are:

History of the town of Rye, New Hampshirefrom its discovery and settlement to December 31, 1903by Langdon B. Parsons.Published 1905 by Rumford Print. Co. in Concord, N.H .Written in English.

A history and genealogy of Captain John Locke [1627-1796] of Portsmouth and Rye, N. H.and his descendants ; also of Nathaniel Locke of Portsmouth, and a short account of the history of the Lockes in Englandby Arthur H. Locke ...Published 1916 by The Rumford press in [Concord, N. H .Written in English.

I believe you can find readable images of these books on archive.com in the free book section.

Also, we have established through DNA that my husband's great great grandfather is a Y-DNA patrilineal descendant of Capt John Locke, but we don't know how to fill in the link. Basically will need to track CJL father-to-son descendants down to males of reproductive age to be the father of a person (Elias Varney Locke) born around 1806. Do you think anyone has a database or spreadsheet of descendants that could be searchable?

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Author of the Nutfield Genealogy blog and occasional genealogy speaker. My family research includes Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, with a smattering of Nova Scotia. Please contact me if you see your ancestors on this blog. I would love to share information. I am the former secretary of the New Hampshire Mayflower Society, former President of the Londonderry Historical Society, member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Mass. Society of Genealogists, The National Genealogical Society, and the New Hampshire Society of Genealogists.